Chapter 3: The Calm

Fuck it, I’m riding my bike over to Tasha’s. I gotta tell her about what happened with Mars. I jump off the 2 bus, run to the house, fly the garage and grab my black and BMX with the gold, 5-spoke rims. I got this by stealing about 8 different bikes, putting them together and spray painting it.

As I’m riding down the block, I see Low getting off his bus. I yell, “Wuddup nigga?”. He turned, looked at me and walked into the park. Fuck it, I’m not chasing this nigga.

I kept it moving and as I pull up to Tasha’s place, I see her walking with Jesus Ramirez aka Ramzee. This Spanish prick ain’t even from the south side. Not the east, or the west, or even Sick Town and that’s north east. We’re in the south-south, that’s why we call it the Ends.. It’s the end of F-City.

Ramzee’s like 17 years old and he’s one of the leaders of the Latin click Si Dios Quiere. Dude’s like 6’4, 180 LBS, I heard he’s getting a scholarship for basketball, and he’s from ND, that’s North District Flower City. It’s the new area. Fuck it, I fall back in the catwalk and just pree the whole scene and watch bare face while I take mental pictures and get cheesed in my head.

Let me give the breakdown of the climate in Flower City. It’s a not big town by any means; it’s about 600,000 people strong. There’s one college, Amorse Woodley, 4 high schools, Flower City High School, St. Gloria Catholic School, Flower Central and Morris Lindon Private High School. People South of Peru Ave usually go to FCHS, but the school is located one block south of the start of the north side which is where Sick Town is. St. Gloria is Flower City’s only Catholic school and because of that, it’s huge and brand new. Flower Central is all the way east and it’s ghetto as fuck. The only way you go there is if you’re a bad student or your family hates you. Morris Lindon Private is way up north in the nice new area and you’re pretty much rich if you go there.

That’s where Ramzee was from, his click isn’t Blood or Crip. They’re some rich pricks whose parents buy them everything, so they act like they’re better than everyone else. These bitch ass niggas don’t do shit in the streets, but their school has a boxing club, so they can fight. Plus, they got the best sports program in the province.

I was just sitting there for a minute watching them talk and finally I got mad. So, fuck it, I left and told myself that bitch is probably sucking that whack ass motherfucker’s dick. I rode away trying to be calm and reminding myself that tomorrow’s a new day. I’m going to chop a new jubie at school. When I got home, I went straight to my room, put on my headphones, started listening to Mobb Deep “Shook Ones” and laid down.

Chapter 3.5: The Calm 2

On my way to school, I got to thinking.. Why did Low ignore me and is Tasha fucking that dick head Ramzee? I smoked my spliff and went to the guidance counselor’s office. Mr. Dacket told me I would fit in very well and he hopes to see me playing football this year. I don’t know about all that, but I know we’re going to run everything we can through this brown-walled prison of false information.

My first class was English with Mrs. Miller. When I walked in, there she was, the girl with the freckles. I sit 3 rows behind her to the left and the teacher called her name. Alexa Anthony. I thought to myself, that’s a nice name. She walked over to the teacher’s desk, and Mrs. Miller handed her an envelope to take to the office. She was gone for like 15 minutes.

When she returned, we had already done our introductions and Mrs. Miller was asking about our favorite books. Alexa said hers was a love story of some sort and mine was Sport Power Magazine. Everyone laughed except her, so that was my perfect opening.

When class was over, I walked up to her and said, “So what, you don’t like sports?”. She answered, “No, it’s not that I don’t like sports, I just don’t like shitty comedians” and walked away. Damn that was rough, but at least she knows who I am now.

Second period was science and I have 3rd period lunch. I went to the hill and Mars was nowhere to be found, so I ended up going to the cafeteria by myself. That’s the day I met Corey Gordan aka Gentle. G was a tall brown skin dude, who loved playing ball on the Sick Town rec team. He asked me where I was from and when I told him Ends, he then asked if I know Flip Change. “Oh fuck yeah I know Flip! How you know him?” He told me when he was a kid him and flip use to live in the same building beside the mall, Flower Grove. We ended up smoking my last blunt before lunch was over. For me, that was more than enough school for the day.

I had to go grab more weed from Fitzroy Skellington aka Squeeze, so I got back on the bus and went to the Ends. I saved enough money to grab 2 ounces so I could start my grind. Every year I grab weed to sell, so I can smoke for free and keep buying new shoes. When I touch down on the Ends, I rode over to the park and bucked Fitzroy Skellington aka Squeeze. Squeeze was a short stocky dark skin dude, who everybody said could fight like fucking wolverine. I grabbed 2.5 ounces and smoked a blunt with him. He’s a pretty funny guy who’s easy to talk to, but you really got to watch yourself around him because he goes from laughing to stabbing 0.3 seconds.

He was telling me the story about how him and his boys started the 9th grade and when he got to the school everyone was already afraid of Sean Skellington aka Eyes, so nobody would even look at him. I know it’s true because I’ve known them since the 2nd grade and Sean was always serious. Nobody ever fucked with him, talked bad about him or even really talked directly to him. If they wanted something from him, they would go to Squeeze.

This purchase is no different, I’m buying weed from Eyes, but picking it up from Squeeze because you’re not allowed to talk to him or ask him for anything. When I placed the order, I sent a message to a beeper with a code that’s specific to me. I went to the meeting location at the time that was pre-selected for all my purchases. The only one of us younger guys that can talk to Sean is Low.

After smoking with Squeeze, I went to the back of Sport House, where The RLC mans chilled all the time. When pulled up, all I could see was L-Rock’s Big ass afro and Black Son’s red Triple Fat Goose jacket, they were drinking a Colt 45 40-ounce. They asked me if I seen Mars. “Shit. Y’all don’t know what happened?”. Rock replied, “Naw nigga, what it smell like?”. So, I explained the entire story, Rock was pissed, and Black Son thought it was kind of funny. Rock jumped on his bike and went straight home to tell Big Rock what happened. As he was riding away, I yelled, “Try to just stay calm my nigga, beef ain’t helping us get more shows.”

I asked Son if he knows anything about this Jesus pretty boy that was hanging around Tasha. He told me that I got to be very careful; Those guys seem soft and like they don’t put in any work, but they’re ‘bout it and whatever they’re doing, it’s a family thing. I was confused. “So, is this nigga hard or he is just a kid that works for a family business?” I asked. Black told me it was a family business, but from what he knows, that family business is heroin. To be honest, I have never even seen that shit in my life, and I don’t think I want to.

After all that, I hit up Deckers, got a new scale and some dime baggies with pictures of little skulls printed on them. I went back to my house. My grandma’s in the kitchen, and I go straight to my room, shut the door and started diming out my weed. Thank God for the smell of oxtail in the house, because this weed was sticky as fuck and my entire room was stinking bad.

I heard my grandma calling me, “Rah-Mone, ya tink sa mi na hear you a sneak inna da house?! Mi a ga tell ya grandfawda, come eat before da food get cole.” My grandma and I have a very special relationship, you could say she is my life coach and best friend, but also the enforcer of rules in a house that was pretty laid-back.

I told her what the first two days of school was like to a certain extent and she told me to go to school and learn because “ya haffi bill ya life”. My grandma was full of all these little sayings and only yelled when she was giving you syllable beatings. She was funny, filled with life and energy and had the most amazing laugh with a great sense of humor. She was truly a special person and she gave everything to her family and blessed us every day with her presence and cooking. I love my grandma more than anything in the world, she is my entire heart.